Category Archives: Health Care

Senator Sylvia R. Garcia of Senate District 6 invites the public to attend a Senior Crafts and Health Fair on Thursday, October 6th at the Aldine M.O. Campbell Center. During this free event attendees will be able to purchase handmade goods from local seniors and receive free health screenings from community partners.

“I hope to see the community participate in this event. It’s a great opportunity to support our local seniors who put so much into their crafts and have given so much to our community. We invite friends, family, and the general public to take part in the crafts and free health fair,” Garcia said.

This event is being held in partnership with Neighborhood Centers Incorporated.

Posted onMay 14, 2016|Comments Off on A State Rep Working On Real Issues

With today’s news that Dan Patrick is more interested in potties and sending back billions in federal education dollars to DC, it’s time to remind folks that there are folks representing us in Austin that are actually serving their constituents.

Last weekend, I attended State Rep. Gene Wu’s (HD137) town hall. Having lived in the district for a few years, I had yet to attend one, but since this one would have much to do with moving toward a set of legislative priorities, I thought I’d better go.

Upon arrival, I found a pretty diverse crowd that looked just like Houston. “De todo un poco,” or, a little of everything. And Wu didn’t make the meeting all about him, though I wouldn’t blame him since he’s up for re-election. In fact, he showcased some local experts on issues, such as education, health care, and public safety.

H.D. Chambers, chief at Alief ISD, presented on the realities about public education in the area, and especially on the lawsuit filed by numerous Texas school districts regarding education finance. (The lawsuit was decided today by the Texas Supreme Court and, let’s just say, the kids, the people, and the schools lost). The lawsuit was mainly about having the courts decide how enough resources would be provided to meet expectations that we place on our schools. The Court decided that the state met minimum constitutional standards of funding.

Anyway, he reminded us that there are 5 million students in K-12, but that there are 3.5 million children age 0-3, who by 4 should be getting into Pre-K. Of course, Pre-K support from the state is non-existent. This poses a major threat to the future of Texas, which includes a startling statistic: If a child cannot read by 3rd grade, there is a 35% chance that the child will dropout of school.

Freddy Warner from the Memorial Hermann system spoke regarding health care from a major system standpoint. He stated that health care and education are among the top funding priorities in the Texas legislature and that in the coming session, they may be crowding each other out. Considering Texas was just bailed out by the Obama administration regarding Medicaid, one would think that Medicaid expansion would be a priority. Warner stated that there is zero chance it would be addressed as health care doesn’t seem to be a priority for most in Austin. He did mention that Memorial Hermann does provide $1.4 billion in charity care.

A startling statistic he provided is that we shouldn’t be surprised if there is a budget shortfall in 2017. While the State Comptroller based a budget on $65 per barrel oil, we’re currently at $40 ($46 today) per barrel. It just doesn’t look good for our next budget.

Now, take Dan Patrick’s potty boycott of $10 billion of our federal money that we’ve paid into the system into consideration. Now, open a bottle of booze and start worrying.

Next up was Januari Leo of Legacy Health, which is a federally qualified health center. The majority of people seen by them are uninsured who cannot afford the emergency room or private clinics. They weren’t helped when Harris Health changed their qualification threshold, thus cutting 19,000 patients from their services.

With uncompensated care growing, and Obama bailing out Texas Medicaid, if a politician for state or local office (Republicans) promised you a cut in property taxes, it is not going to happen. Texas needs to pay its bills. How that is accomplished when we take losses in oil revenue, dismal tax collections and other budgetary nightmares into consideration, well, go ahead and open a second bottle of booze.

The public safety presentations by Assistant County Attorney Vinson and Lt. Conn from HPD centered on some of the things their agencies are working on. The County Attorney’s office is mostly working on ridding the district of nuisance businesses–massage parlors and after-hours clubs. They attract crime, drugs, etc. HPD’s Midwest division helps businesses develop surveys of the areas they serve as to type of crimes and how to protect themselves. They have programs to work at Lee HS with at-risk youth.

Overall, a very interesting meeting that has prepared me for the 2017 session. While State Rep. Wu will definitely have a list of priorities based on open communications with constituents, he’ll have to deal with some of the odd-ball and bigoted priorities being presented by Dan Patrick and his potty buddies.

Ultimately, elections matter. We have a run-off coming up and early voting begins on May 16. You best start practicing for November.

Thanks to Rep. Wu’s staff for putting on an informative meeting and for that open door.

This is a family fun event! You can walk and even optionally bring your dog to the walk so lace up your sneakers and grab your leash, this is also a dog friendly event! All doggies on leash with collar have free access to our “Pup Tent” (sponsored by Bayou City Veterinary Hospital), humans MUST be accompanied by a doggie to gain entrance. The Walk also features a wonderful Mental Health Expo with exciting exhibits, resource booths to help you find the right people to help in your family journey and of course refreshments, family entertainment and so much more!

For all the up to the minute event details, check us out on Facebook if you have not “Liked” us, please, do take a moment while there and do that.

Comments Off on Make Your Donation To the Walk for Mental Health Awareness-Houston

Despite Texas Republicans not expanding Medicaid and fearmongering regarding the Affordable care act, various health care nonprofits worked hard to to get 734,000 Texans covered by private insurance through the Marketplace. According to the Feds, here are the numbers for Texas:

55% are women

30% are age 18-34 — slightly higher than the 28% national rate

439k signed up after March 1. 295k had signed up prior to March 1

84% used financial assistance

67% signed up through the silver plan

So many people were left out in the cold because Rick Perry, Greg Abbott and the Republicans chose to not even consider a Medicaid expansion, as well as by using their positions to bully Texans with fear and innuendo about the available health care plans. No doubt, the next enrollment period will continue to add folks to health care plans. It’s not difficult to notice that the a majority of sign-ups occurred after March 1–once Texans saw through the Republican lies.

Sadly, there are millions of Texans still uninsured. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, prior to the enrollment period, some 6,000,000 Texans had no health care coverage. Of the 1,000,000 uninsured children, about half are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. And 1,000,000 adults are in the Coverage Gap–those who are not offered health insurance at work, but do not qualify for financial assistance to afford the monthly payments.

If a Texan has a “qualifying life event” at anytime–loss of a job or a child is born–they may apply for coverage through the Marketplace at anytime. Otherwise, the next enrollment period begins on November 15, for coverage beginning on January 1, 2015.

Personally, I still support a single-payer plan in order to cover as many of the uninsured as possible. It’s just a smart investment that keeps Texas healthy. Still, the ACA is the current solution which has withstood constitutional and political challenges. We must continue to support and defend it.

The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will open four of its multi-service centers on Sunday and extend the business hours late into the night at six centers Monday, giving uninsured people a last chance to enroll in a health plan before the Affordable Care Act’s deadline.

Uninsured residents can set up an appointment for one-on-one help from HDHHS’ certified application counselors at the centers by calling 832-393-5423. The counselors are able to help residents compare health plans and find one that fits their budget and health care needs.

More than 114,000 people in the Houston area already enrolled in one of the more than 40 low-cost ACA health plans available in the region.

HDHHS set up an ACA call center as part of the Gulf Coast Health Insurance Marketplace Collaborative, a group of 13 agencies helping people obtain insurance coverage through the ACA.

Certified application counselors and outreach staff with HDHHS and the other agencies in the collaborative have met face to face with more than 152,000 area residents since the enrollment period began in October. They have also reached out or distributed ACA brochures and information to approximately 538,000 people.

Uninsured residents can also sign up for a health insurance plan online by visiting HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov.

Comments Off on Update: Houston Dept. of Health Extends Hours for ACA Sign-Up

The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will open four of its multi-service centers on Sunday and extend their business hours next Monday to help people sign up for a health insurance plan by the Affordable Care Act’s March 31 deadline.

HDHHS will open Acres Homes, Denver Harbor, Northeast and Southwest multi-service centers on Sunday, March 30, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will also extend the four multi-service centers’ business hours on Monday, March 31, until 10 p.m., setting the last ACA enrollment appointment for 8 p.m.

Approximately 99,000 Houston-area residents have enrolled in one of the more than 40 low-cost ACA health plans available in the region. Those without health insurance have only one week left to sign up.

Residents can set up an appointment for one-on-one help from certified application counselors at HDHHS by calling 832-393-5423. The counselors are able to help residents compare health plans and find one that fits their budget and health care needs.

The phone number connects residents to an ACA call center that HDHHS set up as part of the Gulf Coast Health Insurance Marketplace Collaborative, a group of 13 agencies helping people obtain insurance coverage through the ACA.

Certified application counselors and outreach staff with HDHHS and the other agencies in the collaborative have met face to face with more than 151,500 area residents since the enrollment period began in October. They have also reached out or distributed ACA brochures and information to approximately 538,000 people.

Documents needed to enroll during an appointment include:

Proof of U.S. citizenship: social security number or copy of U.S. passport for all family members

Posted onOctober 28, 2013|Comments Off on Tweet of the Day: Your Uncle Appointed The Judge

Little brown one has been taking up the cultural war to bring Latinos to the GOP. Today, he tweeted a complaint about a Federal Judge ruling two sections of Texas’ newest anti-woman law unconstitutional. My friends at Progress Texas responded quite effectively. As my late Pop would say, “Lo pescaron con los pantalones caidos.”

This is a family fun event! You can walk and even optionally bring your dog to the walk so lace up your sneakers and grab your leash, this is also a dog friendly event! All doggies on leash with collar have free access to our “Pup Tent” (sponsored by Bayou City Veterinary Hospital), humans MUST be accompanied by a doggie to gain entrance. The Walk also features a wonderful Mental Health Expo with exciting exhibits, resource booths to help you find the right people to help in your family journey and of course refreshments, family entertainment and so much more!

Posted onJuly 29, 2013|Comments Off on The Notion That The GOP Needs to Embrace People

An article in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal (by Enrique Rangel) caught my eye this weekend. It talked about the need for the Republican party to embrace minorities, and featured in the article was a complaining (again) Aaron Pena.

The article takes us back to Texas Monthly’s cover photo featuring Wendy Davis and the Castro brothers, which earned the Castros the insult of “wetback” from a bigot, to which Mayor Castro responded. Apparently, so did Aaron Pena.

So, Peña spoke up as loudly as he could.

“As conservatives grounded in principles of decency and respect for all people, it is our responsibility to openly denounce these sorts of demeaning statements,” he wrote in a letter to the editor published in the San Antonio Express-News.

“Our state is changing in many ways, demographically and otherwise,” Peña added. “If we are to move forward cohesively and productively as the great state we are, we must put these ugly vestiges of our past behind us.”

Given Republican attacks on women and the state budget, I’m haven’t seen the “decency and respect,” but as the immigration debate moves forward, it seems the vitriol is getting worse, thanks to Republican Steve King of Iowa and his “canteloupe” comments about DREAMers. Needless to say, it is even upsetting Republicans like Pena.

Over the years, King has also compared immigrants to dogs and proposed an electrified fence along the border with Mexico.

Back in Texas, Dallas tea party leader Ken Emanuelson said recently Republicans don’t want blacks to vote because they overwhelmingly support Democrats.

“Our party doesn’t need those people and we should denounce them as strongly as we can when they make or post those ugly comments,” Peña said.

Even another Republican Latino had something to say.

“The problem is that those at the top, the leaders, don’t know how to deal with these people (the bigots),” said former Rep. Raul Torres of Corpus Christi.

“They have failed us miserably, hoping the problem will go away.” Torres said of GOP leaders who say little or nothing when a racist remark triggers a public uproar.

Hell, although not racist in nature, but more “chicken-shittedness,” I had my issues with the Democrats who listened to a consultant who told them back in 2005 that the immigration issue would just go away and not to engage Republicans on it. That said, not much has changed, other than some cosmetic engagement and, now, a complete giveaway of the store (border militarization) during the negotiation over immigration reform to appease the Republicans–which has failed.

Bottom line, it will take a lot more than simply “being nice” to turn Latinos “red,” in vote and not in anger. Republican stances on education (K-12 and College), Obamacare, and jobs/economy are not very well liked by Latinos according to the latest Latino Decisions polling.

Much like it is said that Latinos are not monolithic (although Obama’s 71% in 2012 says much), they are also not a one-issue group of people, unless Republicans go negative on immigration (which then turns into anti-Latino rhetoric).

I had a relatively short conversation with a Republican Latina who attended the Gus Garcia Day celebration this weekend who tells me she is going to file to take on John Cornyn for U.S. Senate because of his stances on immigration. Other than telling her she faces a lonely road in the GOTea primary, since Latinos stay away from that primary a lot more often than from the Dem primary, it was difficult not to smirk. “Bless her heart,” I thought, but I reminded her of the fact that Latinos are not a one-issue people, and Republican primary voters are certainly not what you would call pro-Latino or pro-immigrant, given the kind of stuff they come up with at their conventions.

Nonetheless, a run by her may be what it takes to convince Republicans to let go of the new-Jim Crow attitude they are portraying with their immigration stances, voter ID, etc. But she would still be a Latina Republican left to defend and convince Latinos on draconian budget cuts and everything else the GOP is trying to dismantle.

In other words, the name-calling is just one part of the reason Republicans aren’t earning the Latino vote.